Contentions

The New Israel Fund — which has come under fire in the past for funding questionable groups — is now reportedly funneling money to the controversial Sheikh Jarrah Solidarity Movement:

In contrast to its recent moral guidelines, the New Israel Fund (NIF) is involved in the funding of a group that calls for the “liquidation or fundamental change of organizations that contribute to the dispossession of Arabs, including the Jewish Agency, the Jewish National Fund, and the Israel Lands Authority.” NIF currently channels funds to the Sheikh Jarrah Solidarity Movement, which has embraced this radical agenda, notes Jerusalem-based NGO Monitor.

A recent SJSM pamphlet asks U.S. donors to “make a tax-exempt donation via the New Israel Fund.” In addition to the group’s comments about the Jewish National Fund and the Jewish Agency, it has also accused Israel of fascism, apartheid, and ethnic discrimination.

“NIF has made an important and positive contribution to Israeli society,” said NGO Monitor president Gerald Steinberg in a press release today. “But this does not excuse funding for radical political advocacy groups involved in demonization. NIF must choose between ending this relationship with the Sheikh Jarrah Solidarity Movement, and repudiating the group’s offensive rhetoric, or ending the pretense of promoting a pro-Israel and pro-Zionist agenda.”

While the SJSM may not support boycott, divestment, and sanctions outright, it still works to delegitimize Israel in other ways. New Israel Fund should put its support elsewhere.